And Maybe Some Dark Magic?
by With-the-Wolves
Summary: Two stories of Gilan and his apprentice, told from to different points of view. Cults and slavers and coffee. And scheming. And maybe some dark magic. Collaboration between AmazingWriter123 and myself, which we have worked really hard on! We also love reviews...And cookies. Also, we're looking for a better title for this story. This one's just a placeholder.
1. Blake

**Okay, so this fic is a collaboration between AmazingWriter123 and my wonderful self. Basically, I'm writing Blake's POV chapters and AW123 is writing Gilan's chapters.**

**I'm so excited, we're having a lot of fun doing this! Which means that we'll be able to write faster! Maybe, both of us are really busy all the time.**

**Anyways, this is my first chapter. You can probably (hopefully) tell just from reading this, but I don't know. Not everyone is smart.**

**Also READ THIS EVEN IF YOU SKIP THE ABOVE! We need a better title for this story. Neither of us can think of a good one and we really want this fic to have a great title. Yeah.**

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"Is it difficult being his apprentice?" Ann-Marie asked her older brother. Blake had been apprenticed to the ranger Gilan for about a year, and a part of her was jealous. Another part of her was amazed Blake could stand it, being in the presence of a ranger all day. They were mysterious, awe-inspiring people, and Gilan was the best, or close to it.

"Sometimes," Blake admitted. "Half the time I think there's no way I'll ever be good enough. But there are times, when I succeed, that I feel like I'm fully capable of being there, one day."

"Like when?" Ann-Marie asked, looking at her brother expectantly.

"There was one time, about two months ago, when all the kidnappings were happening, remember? Children disappearing, but also animals, and crops too."

Ann-Marie slowly shook her head.

"Well, I guess you're a bit young for all that. But Gilan and I, we hunted them down.

"Who were they? Slavers?"

Blake hesitated for a moment, before deciding that Ann-Marie was eleven, which was perfectly old enough to be hearing about such things. "They were a cult, all of them deeply immersed in dark arts."

"Did they know magic?"

Okay, maybe he'd been wrong about her being old enough. "Of course not! Magic isn't real." Blake paused for a moment. "They certainly were a bunch of crazies, though."

"Well, they certainly couldn't have been much of a challenge for both of you."

Blake half-smiled. "They were a bit trickier than we'd assumed. We blundered into their camp, thinking slavers _at most_. Then we heard them chanting.

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"Do you hear that?" Blake hissed at Gilan. The two were crouching in the shadows near the edge of the camp. With their cloaks camouflaging them, they were nearly invisible.

"Impossible not to," Gilan hissed back. His face had become very grim since he'd first heard them.

After a few moments of consideration, Gilan motioned for Blake to retreat back into the woods.

"I wasn't expecting this. I wasn't expecting this _at all_," Gilan said, while pacing around their camp. Blake watched, one eyebrow cocked.

"I don't understand, what were they doing?"

"Summoning, maybe? I don't know. Something dark, though. Something very…dark."

Blake got to his feet. "So that was some sort of ceremony we heard?"

Gilan nodded.

"But what about the people they kidnapped? They could be doing some sort of sacrifice! We should have attacked then, and saved all those people!

"We can't just barge in with our arrows. With ordinary slavers the plan I had would have worked. Now it's an entirely different situation. We need an entirely different plan."

"Right." Blake said, sitting back down. "Wait, what's so different about these people that we can't 'just barge in with our arrows?'"

Gilan closed his eyes. "They're a cult. More strength as a team than slavers, probably better trained, too. Plus there'll most likely be women and children in their camp. Messed up, crazy women and children, but women and children just the same. Then there's the fact that most cults fight better after dark."

"Why would they fight better after dark? Wouldn't they have trouble seeing?"

Gilan shrugged. "Just a statistic."

Blake sighed. "That's not really a great answer, Gilan."

"No, but it's the best I've got."

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**And there you have it! First chapter! Next one goes to AW123!**


	2. Gilan

**This is AmazingWriter123's chapter from Gilan's POV. Yeah.**

**By the way, just some advice for you guys: When a package of pre-prepared cookie dough tells you to put the cookies in the oven for 9-11 minutes, they're done after 11 minutes. It doesn't matter if they don't look done, THEY ARE! If you put them in for longer, just...BURNT COOKIES!**

**I had to bake yesterday...I suck at baking. Anyways, I'm not sure AW123 will appreciate me putting this in her chapter, but I'm already done with the author's note for my chapter, so...**

**And if she doesn't like it, well, she'll tell me and I won't put these in her chapters. I'll stick to my own (although I technically own this space right here).**

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"Tell me a story Gilan," said Jenny, as they sat on the bench in the park around Castle Whitby. Jenny was visiting from her home fief of Redmont.

"Ah well, did you hear about how there were disappearances a few months ago?" he asked.

Jenny nodded, "Children were kidnapped I heard."

"Animals and crops disappeared too. Crowley sent me to track them down, and I took Blake along with me. We thought they were slavers… and I was right," said Gilan. He grinned when Jenny paled slightly.

"Nothing to worry about Jen, we were quite safe," he assured.

"But what did you do about them?" she asked, already imagining a multitude of brave rescues Gilan would have performed.

"Actually we weren't safe," admitted Gilan. "They were really dangerous kidnappers."

"What happened then?" asked Jenny.

XxxxxxX

They crouched at the edge of the camp, listening and seeing everything from the shadows. After all, that was their job.

Gilan listened carefully, and his face paled a few shades. He raised his hand to Blake and told him to go back.

Then he listened to the leader. He was talking in Gallic, something Gilan didn't understand very well. But he made out the words "Children" "Ships" and "Smuggle."

Then the man began to speak in rapid Gallic, so it almost sounded like a chant. Gilan motioned for Blake to move back.

They reached their camp and Blake sat down. Gilan wondered how much to tell him.

"What are they up to? Why did we come away so suddenly?" asked Blake.

"Apprentices… apprentices… they can never ask more than one question," muttered Gilan.

"What are they doing?" repeated Blake.

"Those Gallicans are kidnapping children and smuggling them to Magyara to work as slaves for the pirates there. In return the Magyarans leave majority of the Gallican coast untouched."

"So should we attack them?" asked Blake.

"If these were normal bandits that is just what I would do, but now we need to change our plan. We are only two; they must be at least 30. And there are women there, whom I would rather not attack. And they'll probably fight better in the dark since they'll know that the firelight will be in our eyes. We have to come back later Blake," said Gilan grimly.

"So what do we do when we come back?" asked Blake.

"What we always do," replied Gilan.

They walked in silence for a little while. Then Blake said, "Hey Gilan…" He was cut off before he could go any further.

"Hay is for horses Blake," said Gilan with his usual cheery grin.

"Gilan, so do we tell the King what we found?" asked Blake.

"No, we have some coffee first. Then we tell Crowley and Halt and Will. Then they decide what to do next and if the king should be bothered with it. After that, it is up to us to complete this assignment," said Gilan. Blake was overly curious. A good trait for a Ranger, but extremely irritating at times.

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**And there you 'ave it! Two chapters in one night and I'm getting them done about a day before I thought I would!**


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